Baker said he plans to keep this lineup against Jake Arrieta after being rained out on Tuesday.

“This is our most successful lineup that we had, but I was kind of waiting on Harp to get some more reps, get some more ABs, and to get a little sharper. And that’s why,” said Baker, addressing Harper, who played the last five games of the regular season after missing 41 with a hyperextended knee. “We had faced left-handers the first couple games, and so I shuffled and went back to our original. First time we’ve had that lineup in months since Harp got hurt. Feels pretty good.”

The Nationals were third in regular-season batting (.266) and slugged 215 homers, but have been stifled by the Cubs’ pitching in the NLDS. While their pitching has been excellent, it hasn’t mattered — the Nationals were hitting .121 after three games. Murphy understood the move. He was 1-of-11 through three games.

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“To be honest, right now, Jayson deserves more at-bats than I do. He’s had really good at-bats,” Murphy said. “I guess [it was] to stagger the lefties a little bit. We’re able to go basically right, left, right, left, right.”

Murphy gave all due praise to the Cubs who have shut down the Nationals, except for one inning in Game 2 when Harper and Zimmerman homered, combining for five runs. Now is not the time to panic or change approach. Murphy wanted to do what he always does. And he knew where to start.

“Don’t miss the one I get to hit would be a fantastic start for me personally,” Murphy saidbefore emphasizing the need to appreciate what’s going on.

“Enjoy the moment. This is supposed to be fun. I’m fairly certain that a decade from now, none of you guys are going to want to talk to me about this kind of stuff. So I’d really like to enjoy the moment, whether it be positive or negative and hopefully that can give not only myself but our ballclub the freedom to go out and play with joy and peace, no matter how big the moment.”

If not, maybe try bunting.

Or criticizing Baker who has Murphy’s support.

“The pitching has been unbelievable for us, starting and relieving,” Murphy said. “Offensively, we’ve got to score. That’s where it starts and that doesn’t fall on the manager. He’s got us completely prepared every ballgame. We have to go out there and see if we can put up some crooked numbers.”